Grilled pork chops with sweet potatos and green beans

Porkchops used to throw me.  I cook using a thermometer because food safety is paramount in our house and I am not that good at determining when things are done yet. So I was cooking pork to 165F. Don't do that. It's too much. Once I learned that 150F is perfectly fine, my porkchops became delicious instead of dried out.  I don't get too fancy with them: I usually pair them with rosemary.  Sometimes I use maple syrup with Dijon mustard if I am doing a roast loin but really rosemary is so good with pork, I stick to it.  Because grills are hot, I sliced some apple to be my porkchop's protector. I always have apples to spare and this makes an impressive plating too, who doesn't love a little warm apple and cinnamon?

The green beans get wrapped in aluminum foil with garlic & olive oil and just hang out on the cooler part of the grill. They take about 10 minutes to get super green and tender then take them off and wrap them back up.  The sweet potato is actually Japanese sweet potato and if you try it, you'll never go back.  I sprinkle coin slices with cinnamon and coconut oil then on the grill they go. Slice them thin for fast cooking but not too thin or you'll get fast burning.

This is a really easy meal and a standard at our house. The green beans get swapped out for whatever green leafy is in season and a salad always tags along.

Movie lover & hater

I rarely have mellow reactions to films. I like it, or I'm angry. A lousy movie can spoil an evening and spill over to the next day.  Do I think this is one of my more endearing qualities? No. Do I intend on changing? No.

 I love to take movies on fully and be immersed in the characters and story.  The price of that is occasional disappointment when faced with a poorly crafted film. Of which there are many. I will be reviewing new movies I see here and also blathering on about some of my favorites, but first I must tell you a little more about my feelings about movies.

I consider films the same way I think about dreams.  Like little windows into understanding masked with sometimes outlandish characters and settings that can be deconstructed into important personal meaning.  A movie should entertain while you are watching it but should later linger as you wonder how it relates to your life as you would a dream.  This extremely personal and perhaps self indulgent view of films has me locked in and always looking for more.  But most important to understand is that I rarely think of them as a project created by lots of people as a job for profit who sometimes don't give a fig for viewer enlightenment.  This is exactly why I failed to break into the film industry. There, I said it.

Salad is our buddy

Once upon a time I opened a bag of greens and put it on the table. That was our salad. Half the time hubby didn't eat it, sometimes he forgot and others who knows.  He is a stickler for good presentation of food.  Before you go condemning him for being too picky, like I used to, I'd like to point out many healthy eaters have this same quirk: it's a great habit to care about your food looking appetizing and making a meal a special occasion- that's how it's done all over the world.  Anyway, that bag just wasn't cutting it and had to evolve.  Now our salads are present at both lunch and dinner and add lots of variety to our meals.  At first the extra step was difficult to incorporate but now, I wouldn't dream of a meal without a salad.

Today's salad featured our fresh strawberries grown in our backyard and some pine nuts that looked irresistible at our local market.   Greens are arugula and red leaf along with cucumber and radish.  Dressing is our homemade balsamic vinaigrette that I never get tired of.

Fabulous Feet Friday

Of the under-appreciated appendages, feet must be right up there in the top five.  Momma's need their feet for running after little ones and in my case lots and lots of walking.  In the last couple of years anticipating motherhood and embracing my old-fogey married status, I gave up high heels.  But I did not give up a love of shoes.  Every Friday I will dedicate to those hard working feet of ours and the importance of taking good care of them.

Fajita Chicken with veggies

Fajita Chicken with mexican wild rice, refried black beans, veggies and avocado

We are off the gluten.  No flour tortillas for us.  Or bread or cookies or pasta or a hundred other things I do not miss.  That summer squash was straight from our garden but the refried beans were straight from a Trader Joe's can.  The chicken and other veggies were from the farmers market and the organic rice purchased in bulk at Whole Foods.  This was my first time seeing if I could get away with a tex/mex flavored meal minus tortillas and cheese of any kind.  It can be done! I added cholula to my plate because I love a little kick and the color makes me happy too. 

That's a lot of vomit.

After months of little to no spit up, we have had 3 impressive vomit displays in two weeks.  All of which have happened in our bed.  Last night we knew exactly what to do! Strip the bed and the baby, husband gets things changed while I clean the baby and myself. It was a great show of team work and calm parenting.  We settled back into bed and congratulated each other on a job well done. And that's when a voluminous round two began. We repeated all the steps a little shocked and bewildered, feeling concerned even though the little vomiter seemed unphased by his handy work. The clean sheet supply is depleted and we almost cleaned up when we are attacked by throwing up round three. This is the stuff novice parents are terrified of and seasoned parents laugh at. 

While I do the third clean up of the baby and myself, my husband ventures into the attic to get the home birthing left overs that has our last bed sheet and some absorbent pads and makes the bed again.  I forgo the onesie this time and lay down some towels to settle in. At this point the poor little bugger is showing signs of discomfort and fatigue and cannot lay down.  I rock him to sleep in the glider until we can lay together and I watch him stir hoping the performance is complete.  

Today I am worn out and the little one is now sleeping in a bounce chair I am bouncing with one foot as I eat oatmeal. There's a lot of laundry to do and the big question: will we still go camping this weekend?

The cat smugly sits on a sleeping bag as if to say "I never throw up that much."

Lobster Alfredo with Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I am a pinterest junky and when I have time, I love to try out the recipes I find. 

A decadent Lobster Alfredo with Sweet Potato Gnocchi on a bed of greens

That delicious Alfredo sauce was made from cauliflower! and was amazing on lobster.  I also went to the trouble of making these little bad boys which added depth and sweetness to the plate.  I had it twice while my non lobster loving husband was off in the woods camping. The Alfredo was so easy and decadent I will definitely make it again.  The sweet potato gnocchi were delicious but too much work for a repeat.

The tea bag says it all

Last night fussy baby phase continued. Hot and needy, my little man needed much effort to get comfortable and sleep.  I was awakened frequently to help him in his quest for slumber.  In the morning my darling husband snuck out and let us sleep as babe seemed content finally and we rested well for about an hour. That was good. As he woke up he began to smile and coo and perhaps it will be an easier day.  He enjoyed his jumper at breakfast that he wanted nothing to do with yesterday so that's a good sign...I think.

I, however, devastated a tea bag like a groggy morning monster, tearing through the envelope and into the bag itself. So that's the indicator of my condition. ;)

The current phase.

After many weeks of an easy peasy baby, we are in week two of a fussy short fused needy baby.  He seems uncomfortable often and needs to be close to me.  Thank goodness for my ergo baby carrier that keeps him close even while I do chores and meal prep.  But it's taxing. And I'm tired. So I started a blog to keep track... Of course we think its teething, but for sure "it's just a phase."

Grilled Brook Trout

Grilled Trout with bacon wrapped asparagus, grilled red pepper baby bella and greens

Fish is good for you.  I recently found out that I should be eating fish 3 times a week.  And not just any fish, specifically Wild Salmon, Mackeral, Trout, Sardines, and Anchovies.  Why these fish are good for you. Of these Salmon is the easiest to get fresh but the others can be found canned relatively easily, just make sure the can is BPA free and you are on your way to good healthy. This was the meal I made for my husband before he went off on a guys camping trip to ensure he would be well fed and miss me. It was easy, healthy, and delicious.

What Matters Most

It came to my attention in my sleep just the other night that most of my time is spent doing something that involves one of three categories: Meals, Movies, or Motherhood.  Of course the first and last take up most of my time and the last is certainly my favorite.  My life is an adventure everyday and I longed for a place to explore it and document it so here I am in my fresh new blog where I can chat about all the things that matter most to me.